693 - Sri Swami Sivananda

Chinmaya International Foundation (CIF)

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Friday, February 24, 2023. 03:00.

True Happiness :

This article is a chapter from the book God-Realisation.

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True happiness lies in virtue and inner soul and not in earthly possessions. Man has to rise up above the world consciousness through daily meditation. He should ever attempt to enter the divine consciousness. He should manifest the divine through Sadhana or concentration. He should transform the human nature into divine nature by developing Daivi Sampat. He should cut asunder the network of desires which brings distress and misery in the end through Japa, prayer, meditation and Satsang.

Blessed householders! Remember that ignorance is always the root-cause of fear. Wherever there is duality, there is fear. In Adwaita alone, there is no fear. Who is to be afraid of whom, when one beholds oneness everywhere? The spiritual journey is long and weary. There is much to be done by way of spiritual Sadhana. Life is very short. Time is fleeting. There are many obstacles on the spiritual path. One should apply oneself diligently in spiritual practices and discipline the Indriyas, in the control of mind and lead the most regulated life. Concentration and meditation are the two essential wings of the spiritual Sadhak. With these, he can simply fly round the entire world. Realise this and rest in your Satchidananda Swaroopa. Know thy real Self and be ever free.

Beloved children of the Lord! Scrutinise your motives. Look before you leap. Don’t repent later on. Think very seriously. Remember Him always and attain immortality and eternal and lasting peace right now. Work unselfishly with redoubled force and energy. Universal love is the gateway to Moksha. Do not brood over the past. Live in the living present. Have intense faith. Aspire fervently. Surrender yourself at the Lotus Feet of the Lord. The Divine Grace is bound to descend upon you.

Feel the same Atman that is in you or in the temple, resides in the innermost recesses of the heart of those poverty-stricken ignorant masses also. Love them as you love your own Ishta Devata. Serve them with Atma Bhav. You may meet with apathy and even hostility in the beginning. But if you always entertain thoughts of love, you will surely win. Rest assured in this simple truth. Love is life and hatred is death. Expansion of heart is life, contraction is death. Man should die, but once. A miser dies a thousand times; a weak selfish man dies a million times; one filled with hatred dies every second of his lifetime. Ever have a broad heart. Feel the Atmic strength within yourself. Be ever perfectly selfless. Love all. Sarvam Khalvidam Brahma. All indeed is Brahman. These is naught else, naught else.

Blessed aspirants! You should always try to find out the defects in sensual object or sensual life. The cause of birth, death, or old age, disease, pain, etc., is only sensual desires. By entertaining Mithya Drishti (the unreal nature of worldly objects) and Dosha Drishti, the mind will not run towards worldly objects. Pratyahara will come by itself. Then only, the double withdrawal will be more effective and producing lasting results. Withdrawal of senses from objects can be done through the practice of devotion to the Lord also. When the subtle undercurrents of Vasanas die, when all Rajas is squeezed out, when the lurking appetites in the corners of your Antahkarana are destroyed, when the subtle pride or egoism is eradicated, then only, you will enjoy eternal lasting bliss. Therefore direct your efforts in purifying the mind first.

Do not worry about repeated failures in your Sadhana. Despair not. Do not give up the struggle or the Sadhana. Stand up and again fight the turbulent senses and the mind. Each failure is a stepping-stone to success. You are nearer to success every time. You should succeed in the long run. Make courage your rosary, desirelessness your holy thread, discrimination your deer-skin, dispassion your silk cloth and meditation your sacred Bhasma or the holy sacred ash. Burn the fire of lust and anger through purity and forgiveness. The body idea, the sex idea, lust and egoism are very deep-rooted in men. Hence, O Man! Struggle hard to eradicate these simple enemies of your body and mind. Continue the fight unceasingly. You will succeed eventually in their annihilation.

Never run away from your jobs. A man can afford to lead a well-regulated moral life in any plane he lives. Where there is will, there is a way. One should do all actions in a spirit of detachment. One should leave the world and the objects of the world, as everything is perishable. Love the Lord seated in all. It is the only Reality. Do not apply reasoning to what is unthinkable. For knowing what is beyond mind, one must not rely on logic, but on the sacred scriptures or Srutis or revelations. Do you know what are hatches, matches and despatches. Hatches are births, matches are marriages, and despatches are deaths. Find out that one Supreme undying Being who is above all these matches and despatches and live in the blissful for ever. Give the foremost place to religion and Sadhana and a very secondary place to domestic and social life.

Craving is an intense desire. Through repeated action, every habit has been deeply rooted in man’s nature. Do not give any kind of leniency to your weaker mind, which is deluding you every moment. Every evil habit can be easily eradicated, provided the eradication is taken up immediately as a solemn ideal. All evil habits can be eradicated by constant Abhyas and absolute Vairagya. Ever feel they are the impediments in the spiritual path. Develop a strong desire for God-realisation only. May the Divine light lighten your spiritual path! May you enter into the Kingdom of God where alone you can have true happiness. May the blessings of your Guru be upon you!

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